Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Santoro, the Minister for Ageing. Can the minister confirm that the budget did not contain any measure to provide for the indexation of aged care subsidies on 1 July 2006? Is the minister aware that aged care subsidies are indexed on 1 July each year on the basis of a Commonwealth own purpose outlays, or COPO, index, which is largely based on the safety net adjustment handed down by the Industrial Relations Commission? Hasn’t the government stopped the IRC from handing down such an adjustment in 2006 and isn’t it relying on its Fair Pay Commission to hand down its decision on minimum wage increases in September this year? With no safety net adjustment to factor into the COPO index, doesn’t this mean that aged care residents and providers are facing a virtual funding freeze on 1 July 2006?